Dahlonega, GA – Lincoln Memorial women's basketball starts out the season with a 4-0 record, the first time since the 2016-2017 season, as they defeat the Clayton State Lakers 73-60.

The first six minutes were hard-fought by both teams, as they tied up the score three times. From four minutes remaining, Lincoln Memorial exploded offensively as they extended the lead to nine points, with Lexi Patty recording six of those to have the advantage at the end of the quarter 19-10.

LMIU started the second quarter out strong, as they had the 30-18 lead by the four and a half minute mark. Clayton State caught up and brought the score to a two-point game by the end of the quarter, but Lincoln Memorial had the advantage in rebounds and still had the lead going into halftime 32-30.

The Lady Railsplitters exploded offensively in the third quarter, as they more than doubled the Lakers points this quarter 26-11. Along with going 53% from beyond the arch and 47% from the field, Kieara Anderson led the team in the third with double-digit 11 points. LMU goes into the fourth quarter with the 58-42 advantage.

In the fourth, Lincoln Memoral kept moving forward and never looked back. Despite the scoring in the fourth was almost even at 18-15, LMU extended the lead enough in the third to keep a large margin lead with the final score being 73-60 with the Lady Railsplitters getting their fourth win of the season.

Lexi Patty landed a new career high for the second time this season as she led the team with 24 points along with 12 rebounds. Kamil Collier also recorded a double-double on the afternoon with 13 points and 11 rebounds, followed by Alexa Smiddy also with 13 points and team-high five assists.  Keiara Anderson was the fourth Lady Railsplitter to tally double-digits with 12 points and six rebounds. Maleiya Hill and Dariya Henry rounded out the scoring with seven and four points, respectively.

Smiddy has also put herself in the LMU women's basketball record book, as with her second three-pointer today, she is now the all-time leader in career three pointers made with 215. She surpassed Amberly O'Dell, who played from 2008-2012, with 214 threes made. 

The thing that separated Lincoln Memorial and Clayton State was rebounds, as LMU tallied 43 rebounds and the Lakers only record 32.  The Lady Railsplitters registered 11 fast break points, 26 points in the paint, 14 points from the bench, 11 second chance points, and 19 points off of turnovers.

As a team, Lincoln Memorial went 39.4% from the field, 33.3% from the three, and 11/17 from the charity stripe.

With the win, LMU improves to 4-0 and Clayton State drops to 1-3. This is the first time the Lady Railsplitters have started the season 4-0 since the 216-2017 season.

Their next game will be the conference home-opener against Lenoir-Rhyne on Friday, November 28^th at 2 pm in Tex Turner Arena.